Rabbi Ozer Glickman, YU Rosh Yeshiva, Dies Suddenly at 67

Rabbi Ozer Glickman, a YU rosh yeshiva and teacher in Sy Syms School of Business and Isaac Breuer College, died suddenly on Monday, March 19. Glickman, a resident of Teaneck, New Jersey, leaves behind his wife, Ilana, as well as six children and several grandchildren. He was 67 years old.

The Commentator learned of Rabbi Glickman’s passing on Monday evening when President Ari Berman announced the news at the beginning of a shiur kelali at the Beren campus Beit Midrash. Glickman was seen on the Wilf campus as recently as Monday afternoon on the day of his death. As of the time of publication, Yeshiva University has yet to make a public announcement about the loss.

Rabbi Glickman studied philosophy at Columbia University, where he received his BA. He also studied philosophy and religion on the graduate level at the University of Toronto, and he earned an MBA in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1980. He studied at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav Kook and, according to his YUTorah biography, “received rabbinic ordination from leading rabbinic figures in Israel and the Diaspora.”

Since 2000, Rabbi Glickman has been affiliated with Yeshiva University as a rosh yeshiva and teacher of Talmud and halakhah to undergraduate and semikhah students. His “Business and Jewish Law” course in Sy Syms School of Business has 68 students registered this Spring 2018 semester; in Isaac Breuer College (IBC), one of the Wilf campus’ four undergraduate Torah studies programs, Glickman’s “Jewish Values in the Contemporary World” course currently has 35 registered students. In May 2015, Glickman received the Adjunct of the Year award from Sy Syms School of Business.

Rabbi Glickman formerly served as senior vice president of strategic risk management and global head of corporate treasury for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Additionally, he taught at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was the senior resident rabbinic scholar, adjunct professor of law at the Center for the Study of Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, and affiliated with its Program in Jewish Law and Interdisciplinary Studies. According to Rabbi Glickman’s Facebook page, in June 2016 he “joined Oliver Wyman & Company in a senior advisory position where he [was] consulted by major financial institutions including some of the largest banks in the world.”

An active user of Facebook and social media, Rabbi Glickman was seen by many students as a role model for and avid advocate of Torah UMadda. He regularly spent time meeting with students about Torah, Jewish philosophy, and networking advice by the Nagel Bagel dining area on the first floor of the Gottesman Library on the Wilf campus.

“Rabbi Glickman was an enormous Torah scholar, someone who spanned fields and disciplines,” said President Berman. “Most of all he was a devoted teacher.”

Rabbi Ozer Glickman’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, March 20 at 2:00 PM at Gutterman Musicant, 402 Park Street in Hackensack, New Jersey. Shiva will be at the Glickman home, 583 Warwick Avenue in Teaneck, New Jersey from Tuesday afternoon through Monday morning, March 26.

The Commentator will update on the situation as it learns more information.

May Rabbi Glickman’s family be comforted together with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

UPDATE (11:20 PM, Monday, March 19): Yeshiva University will be providing transportation for those who would like to attend the funeral. Wilf campus busses will be leaving at 1:00 PM from Amsterdam and 185th. Beren campus busses will be leaving at 1:00 PM from 245 Lexington.